Haley Van Voorhis, a safety at Division III's Shenandoah University, made history on Saturday as the first woman non-kicker to appear in an NCAA football game. Van Voorhis entered in the first quarter and registered a quarterback hurry on third down against Juniata.
"There's definitely people out there who see the story and think, 'This girl's going to get hurt,'" Van Voorhis told ESPN in 2021. "I hear that a lot. Or, 'She's too small, doesn't weigh enough, not tall enough.' But I'm not the shortest on my team, and I'm not the lightest."
The Plains, Virginia, native spent the last two seasons playing for the junior varsity team at Shenandoah. She also participates in track and field at the school as a sprinter.
History is made: Shenandoah safety #10 Haley Van Voorhis becomes the first female non-kicker to appear in a college football game at the NCAA or NAIA levels for #D3FB @SUhornetsFB.
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) September 23, 2023
The junior hurried the QB on the play: pic.twitter.com/0mW8K6WeDG
Shelby Osborne, a defensive back from NAIA Campbellsville University, became the first woman non-kicker to participate on a team but she did not appear in a game at the school.
More commonly, women have played college football as kickers over the years. Katie Hnida became the first woman to score in an NCAA Division I game as the placekicker for New Mexico in 2003.
During the COVID-19 shortened season in 2020, Vanderbilt's Sarah Fuller became the first woman to score in a Power Five football game. As the placekicker for Vanderbilt, she made two extra points against Tennessee on Dec. 12, 2020.
